Court Upholds Expulsion of Counseling Student Who Opposes Homosexuality
Todd Starnes of Fox News reports that a federal judge has ruled in favor of Eastern Michigan University’s removal of a Christian student, Julea Ward, from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong.
A Dangerous Precedence
Monday’s ruling, according to Ward’s attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views. “It’s a very dangerous precedent,” Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told Fox News Radio. “The ruling doesn’t say that explicitly, but that’s what is going to happen.”
U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed Ward’s lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University. She was removed from the school’s counseling program last year because she refused to counsel homosexual clients. The university contended she violated school policy and the American Counseling Association code of ethics.
“Christian students shouldn’t be expelled for holding to and abiding by their beliefs,” said ADF senior counsel David French. “To reach its decision, the court had to do something that’s never been done in federal court: uphold an extremely broad and vague university speech code.” The Alliance Defense Fund will appeal the ruling.
A Faulty Application
In his 48-page opinion, Judge Steeh claims the university had a rational basis for adopting the ACA Code of Ethics. “Furthermore, the university had a rational basis for requiring students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values,” he wrote in a portion of his ruling posted by The Detroit News. “In the case of Ms. Ward, the university determined that she would never change her behavior and would consistently refuse to counsel clients on matters with which she was personally opposed due to her religious beliefs – including homosexual relationships.”
There are several inconsistencies in Steeh’s judicial opinion. First, he claims she would be guilty of imposing her personal values, but then claims she would refuse to counsel clients on matters where her convictions were opposed to their views. Which is it?
Second, what would a non-religious counselor do if faced, as they often are, with a client who wants to either leave a homosexual lifestyle or deal with homosexual lusts and tendencies? The answer is obvious since the ACA has ruled that all “Reparative Therapy” (attempts to help individuals who want to leave the homosexual lifestyle) is unethical. Thus they would either have to impose their values on their client or refuse to counsel the client—exactly what Ward is said to be doing.
Third, counseling research has proven repeatedly that no counselor can counsel value-free. It’s obvious that the only values counselors are no longer free to practice are Christian values.
The Re-Programing of Committed Christians
Ward’s attorneys notes that the university told her she would only be allowed to remain in the program if she went through a “remediation” program so that she could “see the error of her ways” and change her belief system about homosexuality.
Tedesco said this case and others like them (see, for example, Augusta State University student told to change her Christian beliefs or leave) should be a warning to Christians attending public colleges and universities. “Public universities are imposing the ideological stances of private groups on their students,” he said. “If you don’t comply, you will be kicked out. It’s scary stuff and it’s not a difficult thing to see what’s coming down the pike.”
Join the Conversation
What is your opinion of the court’s ruling in this case?
Julea Ward
This is an outrage! It is about time we stand up and say something! What in the world happened to the constitution and the foundational beliefs that this country was founded on. If something doesn’t happen to change this it exposes that the only acceptable discrimination in this country is against Christians. You can say nothing against any religious group as a Christian, but all others can criticize and cut us down as often and whenever they want. This is an obvious bias and needs to be addressed.
Insane.
Wow, I’m really surprised. It’s a sign of the times, I suppose. Should all people of faith expect these kinds of decisions and actions in the future?
I can understand how she took a stand for what she believes in but does she refuse to councel all sinners or just homosexuals? Would she counsel someone who was a liar, a thief, a whoremonger, a drunkard, a non Christian, an adulterer, a fornicator, a drug addict, a prostitute, a gang member, etc?
Carla, You raise an important question. In answer, I don’t think the issue is that she would not counsel them. The issue is that she could not agree with them that their lifestyle was a neutral moral choice. Just like she could not agree with someone who said their adultery was a neutral moral choice. That’s the issue, and increasingly the secular counseling world is insisting that Christians agree with their secular evaluation of various lifestyles.
Carla and Bob,
I think that she’s in a classic double-bind here. If she counseled them, to be consistent with her beliefs she would have to point them to Christ and encourage them to repent. This would be unethical according to the APA, because she’d be “imposing her values on them.” If she refused to counsel them, because she can’t offer values-neutral counseling because it violates her own values, she’s still being unethical. They’ve got her pinned, and if our higher courts won’t uphold freedom of religion, we’ll see Christians restricted from more and more career choices in the future.
I could see that this sort of choice was in my future if I continued practicing psychiatry twenty years ago–It’s one reason I left the practice of psychiatry to become a biblical counselor. I believed that I could no longer practice under my profession’s code of ethics and be consistent with my faith. Others have made a different choice, and I think we should support them in doing what they believe God is calling them to do by fighting with them for the freedom to follow their consciences.
When I was in medical school (30 years ago), refusing to learn to do abortions would not have been good for your career if you wanted to be an OB/GYN, but it wouldn’t hurt you too much otherwise. Abortion training was one reason I didn’t go into that field when I graduated. Today there is a strong move in the courts to require even those who find abortion morally objectionable to receive the training (which would also require performing at least one abortion, because that’s how doctors are trained).
Religious hospitals are facing requirements to offer abortions or shut down. Pharmacists are being required to dispense the morning after pill or quit. Catholic adoption agencies in some locales have already gone out of business rather than agree to place children with same-sex couples. I haven’t heard about a similar case with Protestant agencies yet, but sooner or later they’ll face it too. This problem isn’t going to go away, and I applaud the Alliance Defense Fund’s commitment to working for freedom of religion in the courts.
Very well-put, well-reasoned, and balanced, Laura. Thank you for your professional and personal insights.
If Jesus did not come to the defense of the prostitute what would have happened to her? If Jesus had chosen morally upright men instead of the 12 where would Christianity be now?
Gay churches exist because the homosexuals are forced to be and think at man’s pace and not God’s. Doesn’t all things happen in God’s time? I’m not a smart person but if we take time to love, and pray for one another do you think the outcome would be better or worse. Of course there are a lot of things that are sinful in the world and of course Christians will not compromise their beliefs…but what belief do they choose to hold onto?
Seems like we pick and choose what is right or wrong according to how sinful it is to us as an individual. The world has a scale which they measure sin. The word of God tells us not to lean on our own understanding, but to acknowledge God in all our ways.
If we left out the secular world what is the purpose of our own existence?
Carla, Thank you for sharing your passionate perspective. No one is saying that we do not minister to sinners. In fact, we are all saying we do minister to sinners–ourselves included. You’re right, we should not have a category of big or little sins. The two women being denied access to training are not making one sin bigger than another. In fact, they are doing the opposite. Yes, Jesus ministered to sinners, to prostitutes, to adulterers, to gossips. And he said, “Go and sin no more.” He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to give abundent life. That is a life that is free from the bondage of sin. Free to live godly, Christlike lives. And no one is saying to leave the secular world out. We’re all saying that a Christian student should have the right to minister to all people and not be told what values to hold. No one is being holier-than-thou here–except the two state schools who think they have cornered the market on ethics. We’re trying to be like Jesus who did not wink at sin–He died for sin.